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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Alexandra
43
Anamorph
35
Babysitters, The
32
Backseat
80
Band's Visit, The
62
Battle for Haditha
47
Bella
63
Blind Mountain
71
Blindsight
47
Boarding Gate
63
Body of War
58
Bra Boys
70
Caramel
54
Cashback
44
Chaos Theory
32
Chapter 27
69
Chicago 10
82
Chop Shop
46
CJ7
78
Counterfeiters, The
30
Cover
48
Dark Matter
35
Deal
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58
Fall, The
43
Favor, The
58
First Saturday in May, The
57
Flawless
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx
From Within
44
Frontier(s)
59
Fugitive Pieces
41
Funny Games
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61
Girls Rock!
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57
Grand, The
58
Hats Off
68
Honeydripper
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
67
Jellyfish
xx
Kiss the Bride
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
72
Life of Reilly, The
50
Look
65
Married Life
35
Meet Bill
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54
Mister Lonely
52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
52
Noise
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
55
Pathology
48
Penelope
90
Persepolis
62
Planet B-Boy
xx
Plumm Summer, A
67
Praying with Lior
46
Previous Engagement, A
72
Priceless
17
Prom Night
69
Redbelt
72
Roman de gare
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
85
Savages, The
24
Sex and Death 101
66
Shelter
75
Shotgun Stories
40
Sleepwalking
67
Snow Angels
64
Son of Rambow
71
Standard Operating Procedure
76
Stuff and Dough
64
Surfwise
xx
Tashan
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
57
Teeth
56
Then She Found Me
55
Tracey Fragments, The
56
Turn the River
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
59
Under the Same Moon
76
Unforeseen, The
xx
Unsettled
91
Up the Yangtze
55
Vice
79
Visitor, The
64
Water Lilies
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57
Without the King
74
Witnesses, The
63
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
45
Zombie Strippers
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
91
Up the Yangtze
90
Persepolis
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Savages, The
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
82
Chop Shop
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Unforeseen, The
76
Stuff and Dough
75
Young@Heart
75
Shotgun Stories
74
Witnesses, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Roman de gare
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Life of Reilly, The
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Blindsight
71
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Caramel
69
Redbelt
69
Chicago 10
68
Honeydripper
67
Snow Angels
67
Praying with Lior
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
67
Jellyfish
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
66
Shelter
65
Married Life
64
Surfwise
64
Son of Rambow
64
Water Lilies
63
XXY
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
63
Body of War
63
Blind Mountain
62
Planet B-Boy
62
Battle for Haditha
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
Girls Rock!
59
Under the Same Moon
59
Fugitive Pieces
58
First Saturday in May, The
58
Fall, The
58
Hats Off
58
Bra Boys
57
Flawless
57
Teeth
57
Without the King
57
Grand, The
56
Turn the River
56
Then She Found Me
55
Vice
55
Tracey Fragments, The
55
Pathology
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
54
Cashback
54
Mister Lonely
52
Noise
52
My Blueberry Nights
50
Look
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
48
Dark Matter
48
Penelope
47
Bella
47
Boarding Gate
46
CJ7
46
Previous Engagement, A
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
45
Zombie Strippers
44
Frontier(s)
44
Chaos Theory
43
Anamorph
43
Favor, The
41
Funny Games
40
Sleepwalking
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
35
Meet Bill
35
Babysitters, The
35
Deal
32
Backseat
32
Chapter 27
30
Cover
24
Sex and Death 101
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
17
Prom Night
xx
Tashan
xx
Unsettled
xx
Plumm Summer, A
xx
Kiss the Bride
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
xx
From Within
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Dear Frankie
Miramax Films
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for language
Starring
Emily Mortimer,
Jack McElhone,
Mary Riggans,
Sharon Small,
Sophie Main,
Katy Murphy,
Sean Brown,
and
Jayd Johnson
A heartwarming and often humorous tale of nine year old Frankie and his mom Lizzie. (Miramax)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Andrea Gibb
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Shona Auerbach
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 5, 2005
Theatrical: March 4, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
102 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
Wise and wondrous.

88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
An endearing, occasionally sentimental story told with depth and substance.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The bold long shot near the end of Dear Frankie allows the film to move straight as an arrow toward its emotional truth, without a single word or plot manipulation to distract us.

80
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Subtle and graceful directorial debut.

80
The Hollywood Reporter
Ray Bennett
The movie is filled with small moments of tenderness, insight and considerable wisdom.

80
Variety
David Rooney
Material that might have turned to standard dysfunctional family treacle in other hands is given stirring poignancy, warmth and emotional insight in Shona Auerbach's assured first feature.

75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
What could have been a sentimental train wreck emerges as a funny and touching portrait of three bruised people.

75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
It is a sweet, wonderfully acted cameo of a movie about the lengths to which a lioness will go to protect her cub.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The movie's still shameless; the difference is you don't mind.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Very well crafted and superbly acted. Whatever you may think of the idea, its execution is admirable.

75
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
For anyone who has ever had to balance what the heart yearns for against what the head insists must be, this film should hit home.

75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The movie has been shot with love and wisdom, and its implausible premise doesn't get in the way of a sweetness and honesty too rarely seen.

75
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Dear Frankie is a small movie with a big soul and no easy formula for the happiness of its big-hearted characters.

75
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
But as the story takes some surprising turns, it works like a slow infection: Patient audience members may find themselves awakening to the story in much the same way the characters awaken to their own capacities for tenderness.

75
Chicago Tribune
Robert K. Elder
Doesn't revert to hairpin plot twists or other dramatic trickery to hook us in; Auerbach simply lets us live with her characters-which, it turns out, is reward enough.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
The film, with its painterly juxtapositions of dockside industry, green hills, and cloud-scudded sky, is full of misguided motives and fairy-tale fraud. But it rings true at heart.

75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
The film tugs at us. And we forgive it its faults because it never loses sight of what it's supposed to be even though the story has a manipulative edge and maneuvers our feelings.

70
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Within this overly familiar trope, there's plenty of room for small surprises, not the least of which are delightful, understated performances all around.

70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
"Miramax porn." The term refers to manipulative tearjerkers like Dear Frankie whose sensitive performances, along with a light dusting of grit, allow them to be marketed as art films. This one is clever enough to fool a lot of people.

70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Mortimer is riveting as the sympathetic but flawed Lizzie.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
On its own terms, Dear Frankie works much better than it really has any right to. Auerbach tells a small, contrived story, but gives it the weight of life.

70
Film Threat
Ross Williams
While the film isn’t completely perfect, director and cinematographer Shona Auerbach shows that she’s a great new filmmaking talent.

63
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
The end result is an unremarkable, unmemorable movie that deserves neither praise nor approbation.

63
New York Post
Kyle Smith
The film is soft and sticky, but it deserves a (small) audience. If you're in that peculiar kind of blue mood where you'd like to be just a bit bluer, Dear Frankie might be the right choice.

60
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
Dear Frankie's surprises are few and low-key, but the story wraps up nicely.

60
Dallas Observer
Bill Gallo
Happily, the director and writer Andrea Gibb treat little Frankie with as much dramatic respect as the grown-up characters, and he saves the movie from killing sweetness.

50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Well acted, capably directed, not as substantial as it might have been.

40
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
The movie’s glib trafficking in illness, death and pinched little faces to jury-rig our emotional responses (Gibb was inspired by the equally likable, equally pandering Czech film "Kolya") lost me at hello.

40
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
I’m all for ambiguity, but Dear Frankie’s multiple dangling threads indicate incoherent storytelling, not profundity.

30
Village Voice
Jessica Winter
Somehow the U.K. film industry can always scrounge enough loose change from the cushions to foot the bill for a pre-chewed lump of sickly saltwater taffy like the mawkish Scottish-seaside postcard Dear Frankie.

16
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
A Scottish weepie of such bathos and balderdash that it deserves a drinking game in its rotten honor.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
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